Mama smiled at me with kindness. "Let's not focus on the questions that will surely be answered for you when you start class. Consider yourself lucky."
All I could focus on was my question about the importance of being blonde and having blue eyes. How did that equal luck?
"What if I don't want to go?" Normally, I wouldn't speak out of turn to my parents, but I didn't want my life to change. I suspected most boys my age would have felt the same.
"Charlie Crane, how dare you speak to us that way!" Mama scolded me.
I placed the bag of Jacks down onto my worn corduroy pants, crossed my hands, and lowered my head with shame. Everyone was silent for a long moment. "Charlie, we only want what is best for you," Papa added.
I couldn't respond because at that moment I wondered if he knew what was truly best for me.
When breakfast was over, I quietly excused myself from the table and exited through the front door. With the bag of Jacks secured in my hand, I made my way down the cobblestone path to Claude's house. I was sure if anyone were to understand how I was feeling, it would be Claude.
Rose bushes and cornflowers decorated the stone walkway to Claude's house—the sweet scent was strong, and the bees were buzzing loudly. I lightly tapped on the front wooden door of their white and black Tudor-style house, waiting patiently to be welcomed inside. I heard the chatter from within, but couldn't make out what they were saying. Claude's sister, Annika, opened the door. She was six years older than Claude and me, and she was training to be a nurse at the nearby infirmary.
Annika was becoming a spitting image of their mother, too. She was only a few inches taller than me, but her nose stuck up an additional two inches. I never liked her because she looked down at me in the non-literal way too. Most often, when I would visit their house, Annika would stare at me for a long minute and then curl her lip with a look of disgust. I didn't understand why she despised me. After all, she had hopes of becoming a nurse, and as far as I knew, nurses were supposed to be kind to all people.
"What do you want, Charlie Crane?" Despite her natural hatred for me, she seemed more bitter than usual that day.
"I was hoping to spend some time with Claude," I told her.
"He can't play," she said. "You dips did it this time. Why can't you be more careful?"
"I know," I responded. "I'm sorry Claude got hurt. I just wanted to come and visit him."
"Annika, who is at the door?" Mr. Taylor called out from the family room.
"It's no one important," Annika replied in a similar shout.
I heard Mr. Taylor's chair moan and groan, hinting he might be coming toward us. "Is that the famous Charlie Crane?"
"Famous?" Annika mocked him. "He's nothing but a troublemaker who landed Claude in traction."
She blamed me for Claude's accident even though I warned him against trying to make his bicycle skip over the ditch.
"Yes, sir," I replied.
"Come on in, Charlie. Annika, get the boy a glass of milk, will you?"
Annika grumbled as she rushed off into the kitchen.
"I'm in here, Charlie," I heard Claude shouting from the next room over.
"The boy is getting restless," Mr. Taylor said, following me into the dark room, decorated from top to bottom with brown fixtures.
"How are you feeling?" I asked Claude. He was still in the same position I left him in a few days ago in his makeshift bed, with his leg hanging from a sling.
"I want to get out of this bed. That's how I feel," Claude replied. "But you know what, Charlie? When I'm better, I get to go to a new school. I received an invitation just last week. I bet we can get you in too if you like. Would you like that?"
The new school. Was Claude excited about the new school? He must have heard more information about the place than I had.
"Claude, take it easy, sohn. I don't know if Charlie would be interested in this type of school. We should leave that up to him and his parents to decide."
My world felt like it was being torn out from below my feet. Something felt awry, and I had already lost Claude as an ally.
"I was also invited to attend. Mama and Papa told me this morning."
"That is fantastic," Claude shouted with excitement. "We can go together."
